Witch 101

yule 21: tomte ♡

In Swedish mythology, there are gnome-like creatures called tomte. the tomte protect farmers and their families, as well as the land farmers own or work on against any misfortune, especially at night.

in past times, the tomte had links to the first owner of a farm, as the tomte was believed to be the soul of the original farmer. During early Christianization, it was a horrible accusation to have been linked to having a tomte on your farm. a neighbour farmer could be jealous of their neighbour's wealth and accuse the prospering farmer of keeping a tomte. the accused was then linked to the devil, as the tomte at the time was considered heathen.

generally, the tomte is believed to be more of a solitary creature and not very social. the belief in the tomte has been widespread in Scandinavian countries.

the physical appearance of a tomte is a very short gnome-like creature no taller than half the size of a full grown human. they're elderly, with long beards and they dress in farmer's clothing. despite their small size, they're quite strong. the protection the tomte offered could be easily taken away as it's not hard to offend them.

two ways to anger the tomte are to change how things are done around the farm as the tomte are traditionalists or disrespect the farm by swearing, being rude, or mistreating animals.

it's a tradition to express acknowledgement to the tomte by leaving him a bowl of porridge on Christmas Eve. this is also a form of ancestral worship as the tomte has been linked to the souls of the dead. the tomte is known to enjoy a little piece of butter on top of his porridge. some stories say how the tomte would seek revenge if he didn't get his porridge, by running away and leaving his role as protector or by causing some misfortune on the farm.

a very angry tomte has the ability to drive people mad or impart a poisonous bite that may be fatal.
a more modern form of the tomte, emerged in the late 1800s, sometimes called jultomte, is believed to bring gifts to families at Christmas/Yule. today the tomte still has his traditional characteristics, yet the modern form has become much more well known. the height of the tomte is still short yet sometimes they are viewed as adult size. their desire to remain hidden from humans still exists as well as their protective abilities. unlike Santa Clause, the tomte use the front door to enter and in Sweden they live in nearby forests. the tomte is not fat like Santa (sorry Santa) and if they do have reindeer pulling their sleigh, the reindeer don't fly like Santa's.